Page 44 of The Fallen
“Holy shit, it’s an entrapment spell,” Ben breathes out beside me. He laces his fingers with mine, his palm warm and just slightly damp with sweat.
“Stare in awe later. Right now, we need to move,” Mr. Muscles rumbles.
“Boys, there’s an entrance to the tunnels in the Yellow wing right through that breezeway. Professor Gallahan’s —” Dean Hayes gets cut off when the first creature slams into the spell, lightning arcing across its shell. Backing away, it shakes its bulbous head before it darts forward again, crashing into the obsidian block.
That’s our cue to leave.
Ben squeezes my hand hard enough to hurt as we stumble backward into Asenath. I look up at him, his crimson eyes narrowing as he stares at the massive creatures. His gaze flicks to me and he gives me the barest of nods before he steps around us, striding confidently towards the monsters trying to tear down their cage. I don’t know how Dean Hayes will react to fighting monsters alongside a demon, but I guess I’ll find out if we survive.
I can’t help the giggle that escapes me. Despite his swagger and the power radiating from him, I can’t get over the fact that his tail is peeking out from beneath the folds of a sheet dotted with cartoon dicks.
How am I just now realizing which sheet he wrapped around himself? And why has no one else said anything about it?
Ben yanks me backward, and I follow after him as we race down the breezeway to a second quad that makes up the Yellow wing. Our breathing is loud to my ears, even louder than the pounding of our footsteps echoing off the stone. We spill out of the breezeway, almost colliding with each other as we try to remember exactly where Professor Gallahan’s office is.
I’m practically hyperventilating by the time we make it to the office, my lungs feeling like they are on fire. Ben isn’t much better. He leans against the wall, sucking in gulps of air, his wide eyes meeting mine.
“I think this calls for a weeklong fuck fest,” I say with a smirk. Who says a life-and-death fight has to kill my libido? Ben’s burst of laughter brings a full smile to my lips, and I can’t help but close the distance between us.
“If you touch him, your death will be much slower,” a low voice growls out
I jerk around with a curse, my heart in my throat. Jesus, at this rate I’m going to drop dead from adrenaline induced heart exhaustion.
Jacob steps out of the shadows of one of the classrooms, and terror skitters down my spine. Something is very, very wrong. He looks like Jacob, but that feeling of wrongness makes me back away from him, grabbing Ben and pulling him behind me.
Jacob smiles, a stretching of lips that seems to stretch farther than lips should, and it makes my mouth go dry. That smile isn’t natural. Isn’t human. And neither are his eyes. He stares at us without blinking, head tilting to the side like some marionette whose head no longer connects to its string.
“I told you, Issac, you aren’t the prize I’m after,” Jacob singsongs before his unblinking eyes focus on Ben.
Ben lets out a quiet whimper, all the bravado and confidence of being a human flamethrower going out the window in the face of whatever the hell is standing in front of us.
Despite fear making me feel like I’m going to choke on my own tongue, I narrow my eyes at Jacob. “I admire your dedication to following your delusions, but I’m afraid that’s going to be a no.”
Jacob’s lips twist into a snarl and he flicks his wrist in our direction. Power lances out, wrapping around my chestand physically tossing me to the side. Ben yells as I slam into the ground, my breath whooshing from my lungs as I land on my back, barely managing to keep the back of my skull from smashing into the pavers.
I force myself to roll to my side, my chest heaving as I try to suck oxygen into my aching lungs. Jacob crowds Ben, stroking a hand up and down one of Ben’s arms. His fingers run across Ben’s jaw before wrapping around his neck.
Why isn’t Ben running?
I see red.
The anger rushes through me as I haul myself to my feet and I can feel my blood pressure spiking. The wild fury brushes against my power, and I can feel the binding spell connecting me to Asenath and Ben flare brightly. I call that power to me, and it comes easily — as easy as the air I’m breathing.
I can practically see the summoning spell in front of me, the magic shifting and swirling into glyphs. The magic pulses through me, little nips of electricity skipping across my skin and standing my hair on end.
Jacob’s head whips in my direction, eyes glowing a neon green, like one of the glow sticks I can buy from any outdoor store.
Fuck.
His power hits me like a truck, lifting me off my feet and slamming me into the side of the building. My breath explodes from my lungs, my ribs screaming in agony as Jacob’s power holds me a good foot off the ground.
The floating glyphs of the spell flutter and dissipate like so much smoke.
He saunters over to me, his head still doing that weird tilting thing and his lips spread in that uncanny horror-clown rictus. My gaze flicks toward Ben, who’s standing frozen where Jacob left him, his own eyes darting wildly.
“Run, Ben,” I cough out, but all he does is look at me from the corner of his eye.
“As much as I would love to chase my pet,” Jacob gloats with a laugh that’s just this side of being maniacal. “I really don’t have the time, so he’s being a good boy and staying put.”
